Dive Brief:

• Developer Long Lake Ltd. plans a new residential community on the former site of a farm and a cattle ranch, according to the Houston Business Journal. The 549-acre tract is located in Rosenberg, TX, southwest of Houston.

• The Journal notes that due to the oil economy slowdown in the region, few 1,000-acre-plus tracts are being acquired, but Long Lake, which is known for lower-priced housing stock, is optimistic about future demand.

• It is the Houston-based developer’s third such community underway in the Rosenberg area.

Dive Insight:

Evidence is mounting that the Houston-area residential real estate development market is heating up. Land purchases, new master planned communities and grand openings are all proof that the tide is turning for homebuilders in the region, particularly those eyeing the entry-level category.

A 2016 study by personal finance technology firm SmartAsset ranked Houston as the nation’s fifth-best city for first-time homebuyers, based largely on its low housing costs.

Los Angeles-based KB Home is one homebuilder active in the Houston area targeting entry-level buyers. The homes in its newly opened Lancaster Square development in Cypress, TX, northwest of the city, are priced from the $170,000s.

They are joined by Meritage Homes, which chose Houston, along with Phoenix, as a launch market for its entry-level LiVE.NOW. homes line. Toll Brothers, too, has said it will launch its own housing brand eyeing millennial homebuyers, T|Select, in Houston in January.

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